A Fated Love
by Celedra
Summary: Another version of when Usagi and Mamoru finally figure it out...


A Fated Love  
  
Usagi was running late. Again. *Big* surprise. 'Maybe if today I were there on time I would be able to go down to the arcade and flirt with the arcade guy instead of boring detention,' she thought to herself. But no such luck was with her today. She was still half a mile away when she heard the bell ring. 'Damn!'  
  
She wasn't looking where she was going, and was in a full-out run when she crashed straight into Mamoru.  
  
"Late *again* Odango-atama?" he sneered.  
  
"Not that it is any of your business, but yes, I am, and you are in my way, so move." 'Him again.'  
  
"Fine, fine. Your path is clear, see?" said Mamoru as he stepped out of the way.  
  
'Thank you," Usagi replied sarcastically, and took off again.  
  
* * *  
  
Mamoru watched her go. 'What is it about that girl?' he wondered. 'I really don't mean to be so cruel to her; it's just that she sets me off wrong.'  
  
With these thoughts Mamoru started walking down the street, and continued to his work.  
  
* * *  
  
"Really Usagi, you show up an hour late, again, and then expect the rest of us to have saved you a piece of the lemon pie?" said Rei.  
  
"You-, you didn't?!" Usagi wailed. "You didn't save me any?" Her voice rose to a higher octave.  
  
"Oh, you're such a crybaby. Of course we did. Ami-chan wouldn't have let me eat it anyways, you know that." At this Rei unveiled the piece of pie that they had saved for her.  
  
"Yeah! Thank you Ami-chan!" Usagi cried, now in that blissful state she gets when taking the first bite of one of her favorite foods. Munching happily, she asked, "What's on the agenda for tonight?"  
  
"Studying," replied Ami firmly.  
  
"Oh Ami-chan, you are so cruel!"  
  
"We haven't gotten through one session with only studying," said Ami in her most professional tone.  
  
"Oh come on, Ami-chan!" said Makoto. "We can study any old time. Now gossip, that is something entirely unique which can only be done at certain times."  
  
"Should we do clothes, boys, movies, video games, or just the usual random?" asked Minako.  
  
"Movies," Ami said, resigned to her fate.  
  
"Boys!"  
  
"Clothes!"  
  
"Video games!"  
  
"Random it is!"  
  
"Well Rei-chan, anything new in the Mamoru-san situation?" Makoto took hold of the conversation.  
  
"No. not really. He always seems elsewhere."  
  
"What?! Three weeks and he still hasn't opened up?" demanded Minako.  
  
"I don't see why you even bother." said Usagi. "That guy is a total jerk!"  
  
"You know, just because of your *miniscule* experience with guys you should be able to tell that Mamoru is a total hottie," retorted Rei.  
  
"Uh oh. Get out the crash helmets!" warned Makoto "This one's gonna be big!"  
  
The rest of the crew proceeded to take out big army helmets and to duck behind the table.  
  
Sounds of screaming and hissing and yelling were heard.  
  
"Aha!" said a triumphant Rei. She had succeeded in placing one of her charms on Usagi's forehead. Usagi stared at it cross-eyed, dumbfounded.  
  
"Uh, Rei-chan. how do you get this thing off?" asked Usagi, tugging at the charm.  
  
"I don't see why I should tell you. Unless you take back that comment about Mamoru-chan. Besides, he does look a lot like Tuxedo Kamen."  
  
"Oh, fine. I take it back. But he so does not look anything like Tuxedo. I mean, come *on.*"  
  
"Could we stop bickering just long enough to study a little? There's that big test tomorrow and-" Ami began.  
  
"WHAT? A TEST? OH NO!" the Senshi cried in unison. So finally they began to study.  
  
* * *  
  
'No matter how hard I try to study on these tests I always do poorly,' thought Usagi gloomily as she crumpled up the test paper. For once she had enough sense to look behind her before she threw it back. Nobody was there. 'The one time I do think to look around.' She let the paper fly. And it once again smacked Mamaoru right in the face as he was coming out of a store.  
  
"A 60? Wow Odango-atama, you're doing better!"  
  
Without turning around, Usagi said scornfully, "How many times is it that I have to tell you not to call me Odango-atama! And I have been doing better, thank you very much."  
  
"Sorry," Mamoru said, sounding insincere.  
  
'That guy, Tuxedo Kamen? No way!' Serena thought as she stalked off.  
  
* * *  
  
'Why do I always do that?' wondered Darien. 'I'm always making her mad at me and I don't want her to hate me. I'll go talk to Motoki.' So off he went to the video arcade, coincidentally, the very same place that Usagi was heading.  
  
When he got there, who else would be talking to Motoki than Usagi? Darien headed over there, and as soon as she saw him Usagi got up and left. He sat down.  
  
"You know Mamoru-chan, you really should be nicer to that girl. She takes the things you say to her harder than you know," scolded Motoki.  
  
"I know, but-" Mamoru was cut off by that annoying little feeling that told him he was needed elsewhere. "I gotta go. Bye Motoki-chan," he said, and took off.  
  
* * *  
  
Serena heard that familiar beeping. 'Why now?' She had actually made it to level 5 in the new Sailor V game when it started. She left the game and ran to meet the other Senshi.  
  
When she got to the scene she was transformed and ready to fight. It was Zoicite, and apparently the dark crystal had spotted another Rainbow Crystal holder. Now the shadow was out and attacking the town. She ran over to the others.  
  
"What is it?" Sailor Moon asked.  
  
"A bad guy," replied Sailor Mars.  
  
"Where is it?" asked Moon, this time directly to Sailor Mercury.  
  
"About a quarter mile that way," pointed Mercury.  
  
"What are we waiting for? Let's do it!"  
  
The Senshi took off after the monster, an ugly lizard-skinned creature with acid green eyes and big hawks' talons for hands. Its reptilian wings were a burnt orange and caused chaotic whirlwinds. Not a very fun villain.  
  
The monster turned to them, grinned maliciously, and took flight. The Senshi tried to follow its path but the sun was too bright. Suddenly it dove and scooped up Moon.  
  
* * *  
  
Mamoru followed the pull of his calling, now Tuxedo Kamen. He found the Senshi standing around a very ugly looking creature. 'Jeez. These guys just get uglier and uglier.' The monster took flight and disappeared into the sun, then abruptly swooped down and abducted Sailor Moon. He leapt up and swept Moon from the creature, but in the process her arm was scratched pretty deeply by the razor-sharp talons.  
  
They landed in a clump of trees. Tuxedo turned to dress her wound but Moon gritted her teeth against the pain and said, "Go help the others. I'm fine." She wasn't, and blood was running in a thin line down her arm. He bent and staunched the blood with his cape. 'She's pretty strong to hide her pain,' he thought. 'And downright pretty, too.' But fantasies were going to have to wait. Tuxedo tore a strip of his cape off and wrapped it tightly around Moon's arm. Then he went to go and help the others, not like they needed it that much.  
  
* * *  
  
'Owowowowowowow! This hurts like hell!' thought Moon. But where she would normally whine and cry, she knew she had to fight on. She brought out her Crescent Wand and stepped out of the trees.  
  
The monster was blowing the Senshi away, quite literally. But its back was to her as she raised her wand and healed the creature. The battle at last was over, and they could hear Zoicite cursing softly. 'Another shadow not going to stay and fight. Queen Beryl is not going to be happy.'  
  
* * *  
  
Video games: the perfect tool for relaxation after a long, painful, and distressing night. Even though her arm stung when she moved it too quickly, Usagi was happy to deal with her pain to see if she could beat her ultimate record. Unbeknownst to her, Mamoru was standing behind her. He gave her a clap on her arm, right where the stitching Ami had done was. She cried out in pain.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry Usagi-san! I didn't mean to hurt you!" said Mamoru. Then he started thinking. Sailor Moon: hurt on arm. Usagi: hurt on same arm in same place.  
  
Nah.  
  
Holding back tears of pain she said, "You didn't call me Odango-atama. Thank you," she then got up and walked out of the building. Mamoru followed.  
  
"How'd you hurt your arm?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Uh." 'What was that story they had come up with again? Oh yeah.' "I fell really hard and scraped it up."  
  
"Uh-huh," he lifted up the sleeve of her shirt. "You don't get stitches by falling."  
  
"If you're me, you can. Trust me there," replied SUsagi, wincing as she pulled the sleeve back down. She was getting tired of Mamoru's company.  
  
Mamoru thought about her retort. With Usagi, it did make a great deal of sense. "Well, I hope you get better soon, Odango-atama."  
  
Usagi was being pushed. And she did NOT like that. "Why is it that you can't ever say anything nice without completely botching it?" she said angrily.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."  
  
"Oh, sure. Whatever you say."  
  
"I really do mean it," he started, then, seeing the tears in Usagi's eyes that signaled a fit, he went on desperately. "Here, you can. you can. keep this locket until you feel better," stammered Mamoru. He didn't want for dingbat Usagi to have it, but he didn't want yet another thing to make her hate him. He handed her the little star- shaped locket that was such a big part of her past and future.  
  
"Where. where did you get this?" she asked, stunned beyond words.  
  
"It's something I promised to keep safe for someone," said Mamoru, not really knowing where those words had come from.  
  
Usagi looked straight into his eyes. There was no possible way that this absolute jerk could be Tuxedo Kamen. 'He must be keeping it for someone.' That was it. "Who gave you this locket?" she demanded, now sure of her path.  
  
"I've always had it, for as long as I can remember," said Mamoru truthfully.  
  
At this Usagi stepped back, horrified. "Oh no! Not you! It can't be you." she trailed off. Seeing at last she took off at such a breakneck speed the fastest Olympic runners would not have been able to catch her.  
  
* * *  
  
Faintly Mamoru heard a mild curse from far off. What had that all been about? Who knew. He noticed that Serena had dropped something. It was a black scrap of fabric, slightly blood-stained. "Oh. My. God." The sudden realization came upon him. He had to find Usagi!  
  
* * *  
  
At last she stopped at a clump of trees near the park lake. She collapsed there, sobbing. It couldn't be! It just couldn't be! She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't. If she did then she would surely die. Trying to choke back her wild sobs, she saw a figure standing above her. She looked up into the concerned face of Naru, who had been out in the park and heard her.  
  
"Usagi-chan. What's wrong? Did somebody die? Come on Usagi-chan, tell me everything."  
  
"I.**sob**. I can't. Oh God, why did it have to be him? Why?" sobbed Usagi.  
  
"Usagi-chan, you know you can tell me anything. Does it have to do with that guy you've been drooling over? Come on. Please tell me," pleaded Naru.  
  
Despondently Usagi shook her head. She couldn't even tell Naru her discovery.  
  
Another figure came running to their stand of trees. She couldn't even raise her face to see who it was. "Oh Mamoru-san, maybe you can help her. Something's happened and she won't tell me anything."  
  
"No!" shouted Usagi, surprising them both. She stood up shakily and ran off again. She was almost to the end of the park when Mamoru caught up with her. "Let me go!" she screamed as Mamoru took hold of her arm, making sure he got the uninjured one.  
  
"Usagi-san! Will you stop and listen to me?! We have got to talk about this!" said Mamoru as he restrained her. She suddenly went limp, whispered, "God take me now if this is what Fate has in store," and passed out.  
  
* * *  
  
When she awoke Usagi was inside a dark apartment. She tried to get up but found she couldn't move a muscle. She was too exhausted to do anything but lie there. She was wondering why until she remembered what had happened. Tears began running down her face. She was convinced that she could never become Sailor Moon again because she couldn't face Tuxedo Kamen/Mamoru.  
  
As if on cue Mamoru entered the room with a steaming pot of tea. He set it down on the table next to her and disappeared again. 'Oh no,' she thought. 'I'm in Mamoru's apartment! I've got to get out of here!' Using all her strength she lifted herself off the couch and made her way dizzily to the door. Mamoru ran up to her and supported her.  
  
"You're far too weak to try to go home. I had Naru-san call your home and say that you were staying the night at her house. Please, sit down. We have a lot to talk about." Numbly Usagi complied. It wasn't like she had a choice, anyways. She downed the cup of tea offered her. It helped to clear her head. Mamoru sat across from her.  
  
"You know, Rei-chan isn't going to like this," said Usagi, trying weakly to lighten the mood.  
  
"She's going to find out eventually," replied Mamoru, smiling mildly. Then he became serious once more. "You know we can't pretend that didn't happen."  
  
Mamoru's tears returned. She bent her head and whispered, barely audible, "I know."  
  
"Then why do you keep running from it?" he demanded, anguished.  
  
"Because I don't want to face it. A naïve dream of mine has been shattered." More tears.  
  
He leaned over and lifted up her chin. "Face it," he said, and kissed her. That kiss was what it had been that first time, pure, dark, and secretive. This was the masked man of her dreams, and Usagi did have to face it. For that kiss could never have been given by another. They lost themselves in it. Until the door opened and Rei walked in.  
  
They broke apart, and Mamoru said, "Oh shit! I can explain-"  
  
"No, I can. Rei, Mars, let me introduce Tuxedo Kamen."  
  
At first Rei looked from one to the other, utterly lost. "Wait a minute. So you're---you're-Never mind. I'm just going to go back outside and pretend that I didn't see or hear that," said Rei, doing just as she said she would. Then she ran straight back to her shrine to contact the others and tell them the news.  
  
"Rei-chan is Mars? It figures. Who are the others?"  
  
"Ami-chan is Mercury, Makoto-chan is Jupiter, and Minako-chan is Venus. Only don't tell them I told you that because undoubtedly they'll want to tell you themselves."  
  
"Right then. Should we, er, get back to business?" He gave a polite cough.  
  
For the first time that day Serena smiled. She knew now that there had been no mistake, no silly twist of the Fates, but rather a logical and perfect truth. She said, "Absolutely." And so they did. 


End file.
